Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sweet Tomatoes Grand Opening and Charity Fundraiser

Sweet Tomatoes will be the 5th restaurant to open up at the new @First project bordering 237 and North First Street (Five Guys, Chipotle, Panda Express, and Panera are already open). On November 1st they will  have their official grand opening; however, they have a great concept for a "soft opening" this weekend. On Oct 28th, 29th, and 30th they will be charging only $5 for the buffet. The best part is 100% of that money will go to the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter. It's a promotion where everybody wins! Diners get a substantial discount, money goes to a great cause, and new employees get trained before the grand opening.

I have always been a fan of Sweet Tomatoes. There are on my very short list of favorite chain restaurants and the only buffet I'll eat at outside of Vegas. The @First location is the most upscale I've seen (like most other things in @First... I thought the Panera was going to be a high-end restaurant before the sign went up). Even if you are closer to the Coleman, South San Jose, or Sunnyvale locations, this one is worth checking out. Full details on the fundraiser below:




Sweet Tomatoes Offers Sweet Deal:  $5 All-You-Care-To-Eat at New
North San Jose Location on October 28 – 30
Pre-opening “fun-raiser” to benefit American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter

(SAN JOSE) October 21, 2011 – The newest Sweet Tomatoes, located at 4180 N. First St. in the @First Shopping Center is scheduled to open on Tuesday, November 1. To celebrate the grand opening, Sweet Tomatoes has partnered with American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter to host a preview fundraiser event on the following dates:
  • Friday, October 28, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, October 29, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, October 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
For only $5.00 (five dollars), guests can enjoy Sweet Tomatoes’ 45-foot salad bar full of fresh, seasonal vegetables and tossed salads, made-from-scratch soups and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and desserts. Sweet Tomatoes will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter, a non-profit, humanitarian organization that depends on the generous contributions of time and money from local Santa Clara County residents and companies to provide services and programs that help our community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Sweet Tomatoes seeks to be a vital and contributing part of each community in which it operates. To reach this goal, restaurants offer a “Fun-Raiser” program through which charities, churches, schools, athletic teams, scout troops and other non-profit organizations may raise funds by hosting in-store events. The restaurants assist in marketing the non-profit’s event by creating master flyers for distribution and promotion.
Sweet Tomatoes, named one of America’s “Best Chain Restaurants” byParents Magazine, offers a rotating menu of more than 100 original, made fresh dailyrecipes featuring signature salads, soups, bakery goods and hot pasta sauces, at an all-you-care-to-eat price.  All food is prepared without the use of artificial flavors, colors, additives or artificial trans fats. 
Sweet Tomatoes in North San Jose will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on Sundays beginning on November 1.  For more information visitwww.sweettomatoes.com or call (408) 526-0200. For more information on American Red Cross visit www.siliconvalley-redcross.org.       

About Sweet Tomatoes

Sweet Tomatoes was founded in 1978 in San Diego and currently operates 121 salad buffet-style restaurants across the western, southern and eastern portions of the United States. Sweet Tomatoes cares about what comes out of guests’ wallets and into their bodies by creating an exceptional, all-you-care-to-eat dining experience with a daily selection of made-from-scratch soups and salads and hand-crafted muffins, focaccia, breads and tasty desserts. By combining high-quality, farm-fresh and scratch-made foods for a fixed price, the restaurants provide guests with the freedom to create their own wholesome meals. The restaurant concept is built around fresh prepared, great-tasting recipes with a salad bar full of seasonal vegetables and tossed salads prepared exhibition-style every 20 minutes. Sweet Tomatoes restaurants are open daily for lunch and dinner. For more information, visitwww.sweettomatoes.com.


About American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter :

Founded in January 2009 with the merger of the Palo Alto Area and Santa Clara Valley chapters, the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter is a non-profit, humanitarian organization that depends on the generous contributions of time and money from local Santa Clara County residents and companies to provide services and programs that help our community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by volunteers and supported by community donations, your American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter is part of a nationwide network of approximately 710 locally supported chapters dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

18 comments:

  1. An upscale chain restaurant? A high-end Panera? Another strip mall?

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  2. I thought that too, but the development is actually pretty well designed for the area. The restaurants are right on the street (instead of buried behind a parking lot like a strip mall), making them much more accessible to walkers and bicyclists. The aesthetics are very good and there is a massive amount of outdoor seating.

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  3. You should check out Xanh in downtown Mountain View. One of the best lunch buffets in the Bay Area and Tomi Seafood Buffet in San Jose. Tons of fresh food, high reviews and can stand up to Vegas buffets!

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  4. I cannot wait to see it. Sweet Tomatoes (known as Souplantation in the south) has always been a fantastic place to go eat. Think of it as a much higher quality Fresh Choice.

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  5. any news on when the chick fil-a is going to open?? I've been waiting for it ever since I first read it on here almost a year ago!

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  6. I emailed Chick-fil-A about the possible opening in San Jose (I, too, have been SUPER excited). Unfortunately, no Chick-fil-A for us. :( This is what they said:

    "Thank you for taking the time to contact Chick-fil-A. You are very important to us, and we appreciate your interest in seeing a Chick-fil-A Restaurant in San Jose, CA. We hope the following information will be helpful.

    At this time, our records do not indicate development plans for a Chick-fil-A Restaurant in your requested area. Although we would like to accommodate all location requests, our Chick-fil-A Restaurant new opening locations are determined through market research and analysis. Currently, our focus for expansion includes Southern California and the Chicago market. We hope to add additional markets for expansion in the next five years. Please continue to visit www.chick-fil-a.com and select the "Restaurant Opening" tab at the top of the screen to see where new Chick-fil-A's are opening. We appreciate your input.

    We appreciate your loyalty and look forward to serving you at Chick-fil-A in the future.

    Again, thank you for your time and interest in Chick-fil-A.

    Sincerely,

    Cheala

    Chick-fil-A CARES
    Chick-fil-A...We Didn't Invent The Chicken,
    Just The Chicken Sandwich.
    On the Web at www.chick-fil-a.com "

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  7. Terrible news about Chick-fil-A :/ I was really looking forward to trying this place out.

    On a positive note, Sweet Tomatoes opened up today and it was great. They have an amazing outdoor patio. Food and drinks is only $5 per person throughout the rest of the weekend (in the press release they don't mention that free drinks are also included).

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  8. Somebody better tell the people who put that new (kinda cheesy IMO) sign up on 237. It shows Chick-Fil-A (not lit up yet).

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  9. Appreciate it for all your efforts that you have put in this. Very interesting info.

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  10. There is a Chick Fil A sign on the target sign on 237. There HAS to be a Chik Fil A here. We NEED one badly.

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  11. I don't watch much TV, but I caught a CFA commercial locally for the first time that I can remember. Hopefully that means they are planning to expand somewhere in the Bay area. I am jonesing for some chikin.

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  12. I have a family member who works for the city of SJ and looks into the status of the chickfila opening in San Jose from time to time. Says that they have submitted requests for permits so its definitely happening in 2012. Sooner rather than later.

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  13. Man, I hope that last poster is right!

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  14. I hope CFA opens in San Jose too! I'm tired of driving all the way out to Fairfield to get my Chick Fil A fix!

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  15. I spoke with the manager at the Elk Grove (Sacramento area) CFA and he told me they are still planning to open the location at the @First shopping center. They have been delayed with a few of the permits and it's just taking longer than expected.

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  16. Great News! My sister who works directly with the inspectors for the city of SJ, just informed me that Chickfila finally has all the necessary permits and construction will go very quickly. She's going to continue to update me on a regular basis. Hopefully not too much longer now!

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